2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz Owner Complaints

I was traveling southbound on XXX from [XXX] to [XXX] While traveling in this major highway, the vehicle shunted forward and it felt like something hit us from behind. In reality, a transmission issue flared up on the dashboard along with a "Check Engine" light. Vehicle was left at the dealership. Blue Link (the automatic car system) detected this issue at 12:48 P.M. I was driving on a highway with other motorists when I had this issue. Only 3k miles! Brand new 2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz. Thank God the person behind me was paying attention or there would have been a crash! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11742481

Incident

Jun 6, 2026

The lake keep assist safety feature works inconsistently. Many times, the system has allowed my vehicle to cross the yellow or white lines, when it shouldn't have. Even worse, during wintertime, the vehicle gets confused as to what is road and what is not, jerking the vehicle in directions that it shouldn't be going (either off the road, or into incoming traffic). This is quite a violent jerk, so, unless the steering wheel is held steady with significant force, it could cause the vehicle to depart from the intended driving lane. Moreover, when there is snow on the road, the violent jerks can actually send the vehicle into an uncontrollably spin! This feature could be a way to make driving safer, but when you expect it to work, and it doesn't, driving can actually be more unsafe than if the system didn't exist to begin with. And when it does activate when it is not supposed to, it could actually perform actions opposite to the intended function. The previous Santa Cruz that I had (MY2023) had the same feature, but it actually worked all of the time unless there were no lines on the road. Even then, it still worked most of the time.

NHTSA ID

11739509

Incident

May 21, 2026

The windshield washer fluid dispensing nozzles do not effectively cover the windshield. Almost all of the "spray" is in a very concentrated area of the lower windshield. The fluid squirts onto the two locations on the windshield and gets wiped away by the wipers as soon as they move. The rest of the windshield gets virtually no fluid applied. This causes a significant safety hazard under many conditions. Most notably: - During light precipitation when the windshield is mostly dry, but not wet enough to actually allow the wipers to clear road dust/dirt. - During wintertime when little of no snow is falling at the time. Salt and/or sand accumulate on the windshield and dry with no way to rewet it to clear it away In these situations, and others, two different issues arise. 1) The part of the windshield that actually can get wet enough to be properly cleared is not in the main line of sight for the driver to see the road and drive safely. 2) When driving toward the sun, close to sunset, the entire windshield becomes heavily streaked, and impedes the drivers entire forward field of view. Again, the driver cannot safely operate the vehicle. Although I do not have documentation, I have brought this up to two dealerships, both of which agreed, but offered no remedy. This was also an issue with my 2023 Santa Cruz, and is an issue that a friend of mine has with her Tucson. It seems that Korean vehicle manufacturers use the same or similar design features, as my wife has this issue with her Kia, as well.

NHTSA ID

11739506

Incident

May 21, 2026

The contact owns a 2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and merging into highway traffic, the vehicle hesitated and surged forward after depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unavailable.

NHTSA ID

11734862

Incident

Mar 31, 2026